‘Little progress’ made on making roads safe – RAC

Six people have been killed on Bath and North-east Somerset’s roads and scores of motorists have been involved in collisions as the UK has come through the pandemic in the past year.

During 2019, the year before the pandemic, there were 253 collisions in the area, including two fatal accidents.

During 2020, when the roads were much quieter than normal due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions, the number of collisions fell by 31%, and there was one fewer fatal collision. That equates to a rate of around six fatal collisions for every 1,000 road traffic accidents in 2020 – down from eight per 1,000 collisions in the year before the pandemic.

In 2021, as lockdown restrictions eased and traffic began to return to normal levels, there were 177 collisions – 1% more than the previous year, but a drop of 30% from before the pandemic.

Last year’s figures include five fatal collisions – a rate of 28 per 1,000 collisions.

Across the UK as a whole, there were 101,087 collisions last year, including 1,474 that resulted in at least one death.

That works out at a rate of around 15 fatal collisions for every 1,000 accidents, down slightly from the previous year, but up from the prepandemic rate of 14 per 1,000 collisions.

In addition to the six deaths, collisions on Bath and North-east Somerset’s roads last year led to 216 casualties.

Nationally, there were an estimated 1,558 reported road deaths in 2021 – 98 more than the previous year, but 194 fewer than in the year before the pandemic.

When compared to the number of miles collectively driven by motorists over the past year, that equates to around five fatalities per billion miles driven – 1% higher than in 2019, but 4% lower than in 2020.

RAC road safety spokesperson Simon Williams said: “While the overall number of road deaths is down on pre-pandemic levels, the fatality rate per billion miles driven has increased, suggesting little progress is being made in making our roads safer.

“We urge the Government to publish its updated road safety plan, which focuses on both improving car safety – including mandating technology such as intelligent speed assist in new cars – as well as measures to tackle poor driving standards and illegal behaviour behind the wheel.”

Analysis by the Department for Transport shows that fatalities among cyclists increased from 2019 to 2020 – probably due to more people taking to their bikes during lockdown – but fell in 2021.

Among car drivers and their passengers, pedestrians, and motorcyclists, the opposite was true – with more fatalities last year than in 2020, but fewer than before the pandemic.

Last year 1,216 fatal accidents involved cars, 322 involved motorcycles, 207 HGVS, 194 LGVS, 117 cycles and 34 a bus or a coach.

More than three times as many men (1,211) were killed in road accidents in 2021 than women (347). The highest number of deaths among men was in those aged between 30 and 49 (357 fatalities), while among women it was the 70 and over age bracket (106 fatalities).

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “The number of road deaths has decreased by 11% compared with pre-pandemic levels. However, we are not complacent, and continue working tirelessly to improve road safety.

“Every death or serious injury on our roads is a tragedy and we recently announced we will create a Road Safety Investigation Branch to look closely at what needs to change to save lives.”